Energy use pattern for rainfed and irrigated sorghum production in the Sudan

AbstractThis study was conducted to compare the energy productivity of rainfed and irrigated sorghum in Sudan. Input data and yield were collected from the Agricultural Directorate records and The Mechanized rain farming Directorate. Results showed that total energy inputs of rainfed and irrigated sorghum were 1876.32 and 16469.35 MJ/ha, respectively. The total energy outputs were 108820 and 142000 MJ/ha, respectively. Based on these results, the energy use efficiency for rainfed and irrigated sorghum were 58.0 and 8.62, respectively. The energy productivity were 0.32 and 0.17 for rainfed and irrigated sorghum, respectively. The share of renewable energy of rainfed and irrigated sorghum were 15.20% for rainfed and 3.05% of the total input energy. Therefore, rainfed sorghum production is more efficient than irrigated sorghum. The study revealed that although the total energy output is high, only about 8% of it is grain and the rest is straw energy.